By David Miller
Dr. Matthew Hudnall’s work has helped modernize Alabama law enforcement and secure numerous innovative information systems across the country.
As a longtime developer at the University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety, Hudnall served as principal investigator on over $22 million in grants and later became deputy director of the Center – UA’s largest funded applied research project since its inception.
Now, Hudnall will shift his focus to fundamental research as an assistant professor of management information systems in the Culverhouse College of Business. He’ll also serve as associate director of the Institute of Business Analytics.
“At CAPS, I was approaching everything from a context of dealing with production and government-level IT systems,” Hudnall said. “I’m still pursuing different opportunities with state government agencies, but now, being in Culverhouse, I get to expand my capabilities and produce more fundamental, academic research at the same time.”
Hudnall said the scope of his role at the IBA will mirror the applied research focus at CAPS, which partners with state agencies and local municipalities and has developed systems like LETS, which connects 30 databases to aggregate information to assist in investigations, and eCitation and eCrash, electronic applications that are part of a suite of programs used by law enforcement across the state.
Hudnall said he hopes to bring similar projects to the IBA with a closer focus on corporate engagement. Hudnall also hopes to add additional funding sources to the IBA’s existing partnerships with Lockheed Martin and Alabama’s Medicaid system.
“We’re also looking to leverage business analytics whenever possible to improve state and national government,” Hudnall said. “We’re working with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and other state agencies to bring in predictive modeling and data analytics into their daily processing so they can improve their decision making.”
Hudnall is currently evaluating voter registration systems in all 50 states and researching ways countries can measure potential cyber ramifications of highly polarizing political decisions. He’s also working with a technology called HyperLedger to track food production from farm to market and give consumers complete visibility into every ingredient and the origin of their food, which could help in potential allergy and food recall situations.
Data breaches of consumer information and subsequent financial losses continue to plague businesses large and small. Hudnall hopes to train MIS students to think through the lens of both the developer and hacker, much like developers at CAPS were trained, as they dealt regularly with sensitive information in state databases, which were “natural targets” for hackers.
Hudnall looks to provide experiential learning opportunities to aid in this goal. Last fall e took a group of UA students that included MIS majors to a “hacking” competition with both physical and electronic exercises. Hudnall plans to take a team to a cyber competition in April.
“We view this as a perfect learning activity to get exposure to real-world projects and data to help them understand and get ready for the future business and industry environments,” Hudnall said.